SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier Regional School District School Committee approved an additional $100,000 for its fire panel replacement project this week while also awarding a $470,030 bid to Sterling-based DMH Electric.

The additional appropriation follows a previous $200,000 addition to the project in October 2024, which required Selectboard approval from the four member towns, as costs came in much higher than anticipated. Director of Business Administration Shelley Poreda noted the original quote on the project was “from three years ago when we started this conversation.”

The School Committee’s approval Tuesday added another $100,000 from the district’s remaining rural aid balance and will help the district cover the $470,030 bid, as well as additional costs in the project, while still providing contingency money.

“We want to have some flexibility with contingency, plus we paid the engineer and then we paid procurement out of those funds already,” Poreda said. “We are looking for approval of an additional $100,000 to fully fund the fire panel project, which gives us about $15,000 for contingency should there be any changes that need to be made.”

While the project is referred to as “the fire panel project,” Superintendent Darius Modestow emphasized it is much more than that, as DMH Electric will be “rewiring the building.”

“Everything is working, it’s passing, but it needs to be updated,” Modestow said.

“It’s adding pull stations and things where we don’t already have them because the code has changed,” Poreda added. “It is a significant project.”

DMH Electric’s $470,030 bid includes the base project, as well as an alternate bid that includes the replacement of strobe lights and sound equipment on the exterior of the school.

The project will begin before the summer, but Modestow said it will “not be disruptive to the school.” Poreda said after-school work will likely begin in April and the project will be finished by mid-August.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.